


Happens All the Time

by braddocks



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-03-30 16:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3943348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braddocks/pseuds/braddocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eddie finds out that Barry has one last secret that he's hiding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TITLE: Happens All the Time 1/?  
> AUTHOR: Krissy (braddocks on ao3)  
> DISCLAIMER: The Flash belongs to The CW and DC Comics.  
> AUTHOR NOTES: This is my first venture into The Flash fanfic! We will see how this journey goes.  
> PAIRING: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart (ColdFlash)  
> RATING: PG for implied texting

“Allen, do you have a moment to discuss these results? I’m getting a conflicted feeling about this case.” Eddie breezed into the lab, not even thinking to knock first. Ever since he, and Iris, had learned of Barry’s secret, the notion of privacy had been thrown out the window. In the sense of their working relationship, anyway. All three were completely open with each other. There was a general ‘not shutting up’ kind of air between them. Or at least, there was supposed to be. If it was something that could harm one of them, or any member of their small #TeamFlash circle, it was supposed to be discussed immediately. Eddie liked this arrangement. It suited all three of them perfectly. And it kept Barry Allen, aka The Flash, safe from harm.

When he was met with nothing but silence, Eddie looked up with a frown, finally taking in the fact that he was alone. It wasn’t surprising, not really. Barry could be out saving someone, or picking up paperwork from downstairs, or just being his normal usual late self. But Eddie was pretty sure he’d already spoken to Barry a couple of times that day, so he knew it wasn’t the ‘showing up late to work’ excuse. That was Barry’s favorite, and now knowing how fast the other man could be, it was hilarious to Eddie. The fastest man alive – comparable to a snail.

But there! There was Barry’s cell phone, laying untended on his desk, the text alert light blinking crazily. The blink of the light was distracting, and Eddie wondered where Barry was. He never left his lab unlocked, or his phone just laying around, and never without letting Eddie or Joe know where he was going. It was one of the few requirements that the whole team had set up. If he was leaving work to do Flash stuff, someone else had to know he was gone, even if it was a quick fly-by of, “gotta go!”

Frowning, Eddie strode across the room, and picked up the phone, debating if he should check the texts, to see if there was something from Cisco or Caitlin about needing to come into S.T.A.R Labs, or just a destination to get to, or  _something_.

“Hey, Barry?” Eddie tried again. It would make him feel better before breaking into his friend’s phone. Not that he had to break into it. He knew the passcode of ‘C0LD,’ and once again wondered about the why’s of it. Not that it mattered. When there was no answer, Eddie felt justified when typing in the password and scrolling into the text app. There were several texts from a ‘Len’ and Eddie wracked his brain for anyone named ‘Len.’ He couldn’t think of anyone and curiously clicked into the text window, scrolling through the words quickly. There was talk about meeting at a bar called Saints and Sinners, but nothing substantial from that day. Not until he got to the texts from the night before, and Eddie’s eyes widened, and he dropped the phone onto the ground, staring down at it in surprise. Did he really just read that? “What…?”

Shaking his head, and trying to dispel the image of  _Barry Allen and sexting texts_ , Eddie leaned down and swiped the phone off the ground, replacing it on the desk, and trying not to look at it again.

Did he really just read that? Sweet, innocent, and nerdy Barry Allen. He didn’t even know Barry  _knew how to do that_ , let alone describe doing it to someone else! Eddie stood staring at Barry’s white board, face dazed and a million thoughts racing through his head; so, he didn’t even notice when Barry came into the lab. Barry’s startled “Hi Eddie, what’s going on?” drew him back to the conscious world.

“Uh, hey Barry, I was looking for you.” Eddie felt his face heat up. Oh god, how could he even look at Barry right now? But quick! Think fast. Eddie glanced over at Barry, forcing a smile onto his face. “I wanted a second opinion on the lab results. They weren’t done by you this time, and I think they were contaminated by the newbie tech.”

Barry nodded, accepting the folders from Eddie, and sliding them onto the table to look at later. “Yeah. I can do that.” They stood in silence. When it began to stretch uncomfortably, Barry gave Eddie a concerned look. “Was there something else?”

“No. Everything’s fine,” Eddie denied, shaking his head. He turned towards the door, frowning, before turning back to his friend, and blurting out, “Who’s Len?”

“Uhh,” Barry blinked in surprise, almost owlishly. “He’s… how’d you hear that name?”

“When you weren’t here, I looked at your phone. Just wanted to make sure you were okay, and it wasn’t Flash stuff.” Eddie turned completely sheepish.

“Oh.” Barry digested this information for a moment, before shrugging. He gave Eddie a speculative look, before glancing away, blushing. “Well. I guess I can tell you guys now that you’ve seen my phone. Len’s my… boyfriend.”

Boyfriend? It wasn’t really the boyfriend part that surprised Eddie. Eddie had seen the speedster sneak glances at him, and other men, when no one was paying attention. Not that Eddie could blame him. They’d been blessed with the most beautiful friends, and Eddie would be lying if he said he hadn’t taken quick glances at Caitlin or Felicity. He was allowed to. He and Iris had lists for a reason.

“Eddie?” Barry asked, worriedly.

“Oh… It’s fine.” Eddie shook his head. He had no problem with two men. Captain Singh had been happily married for months, regaling Eddie with stories from their domesticity, and Eddie was still plotting the perfectly embarrassing story in revenge. “How come you haven’t told us about him? I thought we all agreed on no more secrets.”

Barry ducked his head, “It’s… a new thing. We’ve been, uh, together for only a couple weeks. Almost a month.” He looked up, chewing on his bottom lip, “I didn’t want to tell you guys until I knew it was a sure thing.”

Eddie nodded in understanding. In some ways, he’d felt that way with Iris. Back when it was new and they were dating in secret, and he’d wanted to blurt it to the whole world, but not until he knew the world (aka Joe) would accept them together. Dating his partner’s daughter was a serious matter. One he still took very seriously.

“I’d like to meet him. We all would,” Eddie encouraged, clapping a hand onto Barry’s shoulder. “We gotta make sure he’s worthy of our hero.”

Barry let out a choked laugh, color draining from his face, “Yeah… I’m sure that’s all you guys will want to do.”

“What–?”

Thankfully, for Barry, his phone decided to ring at that moment, with S.T.A.R. Lab’s picture emoticon flashing, and he gave Eddie an apologetic smile. “Gotta go. Flash stuff for real now. We’ll talk later, okay?”

Eddie nodded. He’d make sure they did. He watched as his friend disappeared in a crackle of lightning (that would never stop being so cool), and turned towards the door, thinking about the easiest way of breaking the news of their Barry finally growing up to Iris.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TITLE: Happens All the Time 2/?  
> AUTHOR: Krissy (braddocks on ao3)  
> DISCLAIMER: The Flash belongs to The CW and DC Comics.  
> AUTHOR NOTES: Thank you for all the feedback on part 1! Here's hoping part 2 is just as good. Part 3 will have some flashback type of scenes in it.  
> PAIRING: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart (ColdFlash), Eddie Thawne/Iris West  
> RATING: PG for slight language and implied things

It had been almost three weeks since Eddie had found out about Barry's boyfriend, Len. And about two weeks of Barry's dodging an answer whenever Eddie asked when they were going to be able to meet him. It wasn't like Barry to keep a secret anymore. Not after everyone knew he was The Flash. It was their pact. Eddie appreciated it, and he knew that Iris appreciated it, too. So that was why he decided to tell Iris. And he was really curious to know more about this man who had stolen Barry's attention.

After fishing, to make sure that Iris knew Barry liked guys (Eddie wasn't cruel enough to out someone if they weren't out), Eddie told her over their date.

"Barry has a boyfriend."

There. It was out in the open, and Iris paused, coffee cup half way to her mouth. She stared at Eddie in surprise.

"What?"

"I saw some texts from him and confronted Barry. He admitted he'd been seeing this 'Len' for almost a month, and that was over two weeks ago. I've been trying to get him to agree to let us meet him, but he keeps dodging. He's good. So I thought it was time to bring in reinforcements."

"You've known for two weeks and just _now_ told me? Eddie! We promised no more secrets," Iris accused.

Eddie nodded in agreement, "We did. But I didn't know for sure if you knew that Barry liked guys, and I didn't want to out him, even to you, until I knew for sure. I've been trying to get him to come 'round first, but it wasn't working. So I knew you'd get him to. So here we are."

Iris gave him an appraising look. She slid her phone out of her purse and sent just one text message.

**Bartholomew Henry Allen! We need to talk!**

\--

Barry was sitting on a bar stool, a drink in his hand, and a pool stick leaning against his leg. He was waiting for his turn, eyes on Len as he was bent over the pool table, lining up a shot. Barry was more interested in watching Len than playing. Playing pool really wasn't his thing, but they were in a bar, and after he'd admitted he'd never really played before, Len had challenged him to a game. And who was Barry to back down from a challenge, especially when Len was giving him that look? More like leer, but who was counting?

His phone chirped, and Barry took it out of his pocket, glancing curiously at it for a moment, before sliding it open, and pulling up his texting app. It was a text from Iris and Barry winced when he read it. He only got full name treatment when he'd done something to make Iris mad. It had been a while since he'd seen or heard it. The last time being when he'd finally came clean about being The Flash. That was definitely a conversation he didn't want to relive right now. Instead he sent a tentative 'What's up, Iris?' back to her. Play it cool, and try and figure out what was going on. Barry hadn't really done anything wrong. That he knew about. Yet.

Barry returned his attention back to Len just as he shot another ball into a side pocket. That was the last of his balls, and he shot Barry a knowing smirk. Barry rolled his eyes and spoke before he'd let Len make some kind of awful joke or pun.

"Iris is mad at me."

"There's a surprise," Len drawled, and Barry crossed his arms over his chest, fighting the urge to stick his tongue out at him. He just silently huffed instead. "You're always doing something crazy, Allen. What did you do now?"

"'Allen,' hm?"

"Well, if she's mad at you for something… Sounds like I could be, too. So, I'm just setting us both up for it here."

"Well, I don't know what I've done. She's in the know of both cases I'm working on, both through the lab and at CCPD. I haven't been keeping anything else from her."

"Maybe it's not a thing, but a 'who.'" Len's voice was nonchalant, but Barry could hear something else in it. Barry squinted at him, having no clue what Len was talking about.

"She knows I'm The Flash, there is no other 'who' that I'm hiding anymore."

"Really." It was completely deadpan.

"Nope. Not that I can think of…" He trailed off, watching Len in concern as he placed his pool stick forcefully onto the table. "Okay, what? I'm trying not to piss you off, but I obviously am. I don't want to make two people mad today, so what. What did I say now?"

"If you don't know what you did or didn't say, I'm not going to tell you. I'm going to Lisa's. I'll call you tomorrow."

Barry watched as Len stormed off. He sighed and turned around on the stool, letting his head thunk down onto the bar counter. This was going to be a long night.

\--

Barry had no clue what he'd done wrong. He'd texted Len a few times, asking if they could talk, and there was no response. The only reply he got was a 'You're a dick' text from Lisa, and what?? She wouldn't reply to his texts either. And fine, whatever. Barry would talk to Len the next day and smooth over whatever he'd said. He'd replayed those words over in his head 20 times already and he couldn't think of what he could've said wrong.

Barry sighed and then frowned at the sound of a knock on the door. Before he could get up to answer it, Iris was pushing her way into the apartment. Eddie followed behind her. After his and Len's first date, Barry had realized that living with Joe again was not going to be a viable option for the future. So he'd looked around and found a cheap apartment for rent. It was 1000% better than his old place and he'd finally gotten Iris' approval for it. She wouldn't go near his old place unless she absolutely had to. It hadn't been that bad. Honestly.

"So I hear you're keeping secrets again, Barry."

"What? No I'm not."

Both Iris and Eddie gave him disbelieving looks.

"Does the name 'Len' ring a bell?" Iris' hands were on her hips and she was glaring at him.

"What? Len's not a..." Barry trailed off. Damn. It did look like he was keeping Len a secret, wasn't it? It hadn't exactly started that way. The first few weeks, Barry just wanted to make sure that this was going to last. If it was only going to be a quick thing after arguing in the seedy alley behind the bar, then he wasn't going to announce Len to everyone else. But then things began to work out, and they'd been together for almost a month, and then Eddie found out. Flash stuff had just kept him busy, and maybe to someone else, it had looked like he was avoiding the topic. But with Mirror Master's introduction, and Pied Piper's reappearance, and trying to convince Len that he shouldn't keep doing his heists... Making the time to tell his friends about his dating life had just slipped his mind.

"Why have I never heard the name before? I mean, come on, Barry! You are my best friend! I'd like to know when you're happy! And I really want to meet him. I'm dying to know who Barry Allen keeps as his dirty little secret."

He knew Iris was just joking, but her words struck a chord, and his eyes widened impossibly large.

"Len is _not_ my dirty little secret."

"I know he isn't," Iris agreed, soothingly. "You would never surround yourself with people who ashamed you."

Eddie, who had remained silent until now, clapped him on the shoulder. "And that's why we are having dinner at Joe's tomorrow night. We told him you're bringing someone special with you."

"You did what?"

"This way we can all meet him together!" Iris clapped her hands together. The look on her face spoke volumes. This is why you don't piss off Iris West. She does things like this. "Caitlin and Cisco are coming, too. When we told them you were seeing someone, they were just as shocked as us. I mean, _really Barry_? You didn't tell any of us. You deserve this."

"I do deserve this," Barry agreed, and he was glad he was already sitting, because he would have had to sit if he wasn't. He needed to see Len as soon as Iris and Eddie left, because it sounded like he had some explaining to do. And some groveling. And what bribery could be used to convince your boyfriend of going to dinner at a cop's home? Not only a cop, but the cop who would love nothing more than to arrest you?

"I deserve every last second of this."


End file.
